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Mikael Becher Lykkegaard Winkler: Structural insight into sterol uptake – an essential part of cellular biology

PhD defence, Friday 23 October 2020. Mikael Becher Lykkegaard Winkler.

Mikael Winkler

During his PhD studies, Mikael B. L. Winkler researched the molecular mechanism behind the uptake of sterols, which play an essential role in eukaryotes. The main sterol in humans is cholesterol, and accumulation of cholesterol in the lysosomes is associated with the fatal disease Niemann-Pick Type C. Mikael B. L. Winkler performed structural studies to elucidate how the Niemann-Pick Type C proteins NCR1 and NPC2 from yeast work in concert to facilitate the uptake of sterols in the lysosomes and vacuoles.

The new research findings contribute to the understanding of how sterols are integrated into the lysosomal and vacuolar membranes, which is of high importance for the understanding of basic cellular biology. Furthermore, these studies have now established yeast as a model organism for studying not only the Niemann-Pick Type C system, but also general sterol homeostasis.

The PhD study was completed at Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Aarhus University.

This summary was prepared by the PhD student.

Time: Friday 23 October 2020 at 13:15
Place:  The PhD defence will be held online. To receive a link to the event, please send an e-mail to Tina Stenshøj Kaysen, tist@au.dk  
Title of PhD thesis: Structural Insight into Eukaryotic Sterol Transport by NPC Proteins
Contact information: Mikael Becher Lykkegaard Winkler, e-mail: mikaelw@mbg.au.dk, tel.: +45 23227641
Members of the assessment committee:
Professor Jens Preben Morth, Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
Lecturer Emily Eden, Institute of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, England
Senior Researcher Jan Trige Rasmussen (chairman), Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Denmark
Main supervisor:
Associate Professor Bjørn Panyella Pedersen, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Denmark
Co-supervisor:
Professor Gregers Rom Anders, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Denmark
Language: The PhD dissertation will be defended in English

The defense is public.

Due to the coronavirus situation, the PhD thesis will not be available for reading at the offices of the PhD administration. Instead, interested parties may send an e-mail to gradschool.nat@au.dk to receive a digital copy of the PhD thesis. Please note, it may in certain cases be necessary to make an individual arrangement to read the PhD thesis.